Aston Villa v West Brom stats watch: Claudio Yacob v Karim El Ahmadi

It's the big local derby at the weekend with Aston Villa playing host to West Brom.

It's the big local derby at the weekend with Aston Villa playing host to West Brom.

In this article we take a look at that all-important central midfield battle between Karim El-Ahmadi and Claudio Yacob to see where the game could be won and lost.

Both players have played 5 games so far this season with an almost identical amount of minutes on the pitch.

During that time Karim El Ahmadi has made 245 passes with an accuracy rate of 86%. Claudio Yacob has completed 241 passes with an accuracy rate of 91%.

Despite the hugely impressive passing accuracy neither player has made an assist yet. El Ahmadi has scored 1 goal though, Yacob is yet to get off the mark.

Both players have shown a willingness to get stuck in with Yacob giving away 13 fouls and being booked once.

El Ahmadi has given away 14 fouls with 2 yellow cards.

From a tackling point of view both players as you would expect have been heavily involved in the games, Claudio Yacob has won 88% of his challenges with 1 block and 1 clearance. El Ahmadi has an equally impressive 88% tackling success but he has made 12 clearances and made 5 blocks.

The latter stats suggest El Ahmadi is playing deeper and helping out the defence more.